Mayoral candidates shift focus from secularism

MONTREAL — Montreal mayoral candidates Marcel Côté and Denis Coderre said they’d both support civil servants’ “personal choice” to wear religious headgear at city hall, even as they campaigned Saturday against corruption in the construction sector and the exodus of young families to the suburbs.

“I don’t have any problem with civil servants wearing a hijab,” said Coalition Montréal mayoral candidate Côté, who noted plans to keep families in the city — in addition to dealing with fraudulent contractors — are “more important” for Montreal than the debate over secularism that should unfold in the fall with the Parti Québécois’s expected Charter of Quebec Values.

While both candidates voiced reservations about clothing like the burka that covers a woman’s entire face, Coderre, a former federal immigration minister, said he believed in “open secularism” that balances freedom of religion for individuals while ensuring the neutrality of governments. Projet Montréal leader Richard Bergeron declined to give his thoughts on the use of religious headgear at city hall, or to comment on the “pre-hysteria” sparked by a leaked description this week of the PQ’s proposed charter.

On Saturday, the electoral rhetoric turned snide at times, as all three candidates met separately with journalists to address a series of tough questions facing the city: roads are collapsing into sinkholes, pipes are aging and potholes need to be filled, yet many of the construction companies qualified to do such repairs are implicated in corruption allegations.

Côté said he would try to avoid taking lengthy and costly legal action against the companies, instead trying to recoup money owed to taxpayers through negotiated settlements obtained by a mediator. The founder of the consultancy firm Secor Group, Côté also said he would also tailor any sanctions taken against a company — such as the duration of the time they are barred from bidding on contracts — to take into account the extent of the misconduct.

“We must punish the fraudsters, but keep the cranes,” Côté said.

Bergeron said he would scale back on non-urgent repair work planned by the city for a year, to ensure the companies doing the work aren’t involved in collusion.

“When there is a real emergency ... we will do the work,” Bergeron said in reference to the recent sinkhole at the corner of Guy and Ste. Catherine St. “We will then press on the accelerator next year.”

Coderre said he would no longer award city contracts to the lowest bidder but to the “best bidder,” following reports of less expensive bids later swelling in cost because of added charges.

“Being the lowest bidder shouldn’t be the only criteria,” he said. “Somebody has to pay and the taxpayers have paid enough.”

Coderre also said he would reduce subcontracting by the city in favour of doing more of the work in house. Such a strategy might be more expensive in terms of city manpower, but would be less costly overall because of improved efficiency and a reduction in unplanned added costs.

Both Bergeron and Côté also campaigned in favour of keeping more families in Montreal, with Coalition Montréal unveiling its own strategy only days after the city announced a $136-million, three- year “loyalty program” to stem the departure of 20,000 suburban-bound Montrealers a year.

Côté said the coalition party’s plan would turn 5,000 families into homeowners — including the construction of 2,000 three-bedroom units — but offered few details on what those apartments would cost or how they would be built.

Côté later came under fire for remarks he made in La Presse suggesting Montreal’s corruption problem stemmed the city’s appropriation of the small-town “management culture” of some of its suburbs. Côté said he was making the distinction between some small suburbs where “everyone knows each other” to the need for Montreal to run like a large business “where you have checks and balances.”

Coderre dismissed Côté as the “puppet” of Vision Montréal leader Louise Harel, while Bergeron said his comments “weren’t very respectful.”

“Corruption has nothing to do with the size of the city, it has to do with who is managing the city,” Bergeron said.

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